TY - JOUR T1 - Key Brain Network Nodes Show Differential Cognitive Relevance and Developmental Trajectories during Childhood and Adolescence JF - eneuro JO - eNeuro DO - 10.1523/ENEURO.0092-18.2018 SP - ENEURO.0092-18.2018 AU - Knut K. Kolskår AU - Dag Alnæs AU - Tobias Kaufmann AU - Geneviève Richard AU - Anne-Marthe Sanders AU - Kristine M. Ulrichsen AU - Torgeir Moberget AU - Ole A. Andreassen AU - Jan E. Nordvik AU - Lars T. Westlye Y1 - 2018/07/02 UR - http://www.eneuro.org/content/early/2018/07/02/ENEURO.0092-18.2018.abstract N2 - Human adolescence is a period of rapid changes in cognition and goal-directed behavior, and constitutes a major transitional phase towards adulthood. One of the mechanisms suggested to underlie the protracted maturation of functional brain networks, is the increased network integration and segregation enhancing neural efficiency. Importantly, the increasing coordinated network interplay throughout development is mediated through functional hubs, which are highly connected brain areas suggested to be pivotal nodes for the regulation of neural activity. To elucidate brain hub development during childhood and adolescence, we estimated voxel-wise eigenvector centrality (EC) using fMRI data from two different psychological contexts (resting state and a working memory task), in a large cross-sectional sample (n = 754) spanning the age from 8-22 years, and decomposed the maps using independent component analysis. Our results reveal significant age-related centrality differences in cingulo-opercular, visual and sensorimotor network nodes during both rest and task performance, suggesting that common neurodevelopmental processes manifest across different mental states. Supporting the functional significance of these developmental patterns, the centrality of the cingulo-opercular node was positively associated with task performance. These findings provide evidence for protracted maturation of hub properties in specific nodes of the brain connectome during the course of childhood and adolescence, and suggest that cingulo-opercular centrality is a key factor supporting neurocognitive development.Significance Statement Adolescence is a sensitive period during ontogeny and a maturational gateway to adulthood. A better characterization of the brain changes underpinning cognitive and emotional development occurring during this period is key to inform models of normal and abnormal adaptation. Advanced brain imaging allows for in vivo studies of the protracted maturation of brain network function and connectivity during childhood and adolescence. Here, we used functional brain imaging to identify neural hubs during two psychological contexts in 754 children and adolescents. Key regions of the brain network showed increasing importance through adolescence, and individual differences in working memory performance was associated with the centrality of cingulo-opercular network nodes, suggesting a hot-spot for neurocognitive development. ER -